Indonesia Hopes to Sell Carbon Credits for Its Forests
Solenn Honorine | Jakarta November 2010
Photo: AP - From VOA News
Trees smolder after a clearing fire near Bukit tiga puluh natural forest in Riau, Central Sumatra, Indonesia (file photo)
The international community will gather next week in Cancun, Mexico to negotiate an agreement to curb man-made climate change. While there are fears that goal will not be met, some countries already are implementing part of the plan - by reducing emissions due to deforestation and degradation. Heavily forested countries such as Indonesia hope to see more progress on the effort in Cancun.
Indonesia has almost 1 million square kilometers of forests, the second-largest in the world after Brazil's. The World Bank estimates that if the world put a monetary value on the carbon stored in trees, Indonesia could earn up to $2 billion a year by selling carbon credits.
Jakarta is ready for the plan, known as REDD for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation. There are several pilot projects throughout the archipelago, and earlier this year the Russian company Gazprom bought the first carbon credits from a REDD project.
Agus Purnomo is the head of the Indonesian Climate Change Council:
"This shows that despite all the challenges that we are trying to overcome on good governance issues, on availability of resources, on expertise and whatnot, there are real opportunities of making things happen," said Purnomo.
Most climate experts say that greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, released by burning oil and coal, contribute to warming temperatures. To reduce the warming, countries are negotiating a binding plan to cut emissions.
For some nations, that will mean reducing the use of fossil fuels. But in heavily forested countries, such as Indonesia, it could mean protecting forests, which absorb carbon dioxide.
But the REDD plan has problems that need smoothing out, mostly due to poor governance in developing countries. For example, there is the question of how to guarantee that the carbon credits sold will not be wiped out by illegal logging. Environmental group Greenpeace warns that corruption also could reduce the benefits.
Nonetheless, Norway has committed $1 billion for Indonesia to protect its forests. Purnomo says this show of confidence has helped the country to start reforming its forest management.
"It's just like when you want to make a turn on a tanker ship: it will take several days to do a real turn," said Purnomo. "For us, it will mean several months to make a change. But the seriousness, the efforts, the consultations, the designs that have been put in place in the last two months is amazing. It's unprecedented"
In January, Indonesia begins a two year moratorium on new permits to clear natural forest.
Agus Sari, who heads Indonesian operations for the U.S. company Sustainable Conservation, says the progress made is not yet enough for a large carbon market to take off.
"We are probably 25 percent toward what we should have had in terms of good governance, but you know, it's 25 percent more than it used to [be]," said Sari. "But I think time-wise it is not too bad because if REDD was ready now, I don't think Indonesia would be ready"
Many taking part in climate negotiations see REDD as one of the least controversial points and they expect to make headway on implementing the program during the Cancun summit. But it might still be a few years before carbon credits from forests are sold widely.
Indonesia has declared the coral-rich waters around Bali -- a popular scuba diving spot which is home to the giant Mola-Mola ocean sunfish -- a protected zone.
The 20,000-hectare area around Nusa Penida, Nusa Ceningan and Nusa Lembongan islands will be protected from destructive fishing, waste dumping and coral mining, project leader Marthen Welly said.
"Destructive fishing is carried out by fishermen using cyanide and explosives," Welly, of the conservation group The Nature Conservancy (TNC), told AFP on Sunday.
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"Many ships also throw anchors on the coral reefs and hotels and households dump wastes causing water pollution. Now they can't do these anymore," he said.
Guidelines for marine tourism will also be drawn up and zones carved out for various activities including fishing, tourism and seaweed mining, Welly said.
"We'll need to consult the community further and we hope to do this within six months," he added.
The islands are part of Coral Triangle, considered the world's richest underwater wilderness which stretches across six nations between the Indian and Pacific oceans -- Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Divers from all over the world arrive at the islands between July and September in the hope of seeing the Mola-Mola, a rare two-metre-long ocean sunfish.
The district government will provide 300 million rupiah ($A34,025) and aid agency USAID and TNC will each provide $US50,000 ($A50,633) a year to run the project, TNC Indonesia director Arwandrija Rukma said.
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad said the project will contribute to the government's target of creating 20 million hectares of maritime conservation parks by 2020, up from around 13 million currently.
"The establishment of MPA (Marine Protected Area) is a concrete step taken by the government to implement the plan of action under the Coral Triangle Initiative," he said.
The Coral Triangle Initiative, which was formed in 2007, calls for stronger international cooperation to combat illegal fishing and environmental destruction in an area half the size of the United States and home to half the world's coral reefs.
Before I woke, a breeze sprinkled frangipani blossoms onto the still surface of my villa's private plunge pool. I stepped onto the terrace just as the sun was rising in Bali and entered the serene water with a statue of a Hindu god watching over me.
I arrived in Bali curious about the island's spirituality and healing powers and I'm already becoming a believer. For me, this sensual island is love at first sight.
Our first stop on an exploration of Bali is the Four Seasons Jimbaran Bay, located on a cliff top along the island's southern coast. Here 147 thatched-roof villas exude romance. Bali is all about villas: the privacy, the lush gardens, and spur-of-the moment intimacy. If you can tear yourself away from the heavenly villas, there is also a long, white-sand beach and a spa offering authentic Balinese treatments.
A stay in a villa allows you to enjoy the pleasures of the outdoors privately. Our courtyard was complete with an outdoor sofa and dining room and after an indulgent 90-minute massage at the spa, returning to our outdoor shower overlooking the Indian Ocean was a transcendent experience.
At sunset, we ventured to Uluwatu Temple, one of the most spiritual places on the island. Perched 230 feet above the Indian Ocean, this temple is dedicated to the spirits of the sea. Here we learned our first lesson in local customs: knees must be covered to enter a temple. Ceremonial sarongs were given to anyone with exposed knees. We were here to see the Kecak Dance, a performance featuring fifteen men wearing only loincloths. These rituals make it is easy to see why Bali has a reputation for sensuality.
If the traditional dance at the temple doesn't send sparks flying, then a dinner at Beds on the Beach will certainly do the trick. Private beds with canopies serve as tables for a five-course dinner. Lanterns in the sand glow as the meal begins with a mini-tasting: lobster avocado maki and lemongrass prawn kebab. Flavors sizzled as much as the atmosphere, including a lobster papaya salad with pink champagne ginger sorbet. After the meal, there was no rush back to the villa as we lounged underneath the stars listening to the surf.
People in Bali believe strongly in balance, so to get the total Bali experience, we left the coast behind for the lush jungle interior where you can absorb the island's spirituality. A 45-minute drive connects the two Four Seasons properties in Bali.
We crossed a wooden bridge and a lily pond came into view. This pond sits on the roof of the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan, camouflaging it into the jungle. We were welcomed by Balinese staff dressed in traditional clothing with refreshing guava drinks and cool towels.
With 42 villas and 18 suites set among five temple shrines on the sacred Ayung River, this was the first boutique property developed by Four Seasons. Our riverfront villa, surrounded by lush jungle, couldn't have been more soothing.
Bali brings together a tradition of healing with the perfect environment for a spa. Ponds brimming with lilies and courtyards filled with bougainvillea are calming before a treatment even begins. Our couple's experience was called Chakra Dhara, a treatment that works to rebalance the body's chakras, or energy points, by strategically dripping herbal oil on the body. Two therapists massage the back, hands, and feet to complete the healing treatment. Afterwards, we soaked in a bath filled with fragrant frangipani petals while sipping champagne.
The interior of Bali is full of adventure. We hired a driver to bring us to the Elephant Safari Park to satisfy my curiosity about local wildlife. Before I knew it, I was holding a baby monkey and then sitting on the back of a native Sumatra elephant. Next, our driver Nyoman brought us to see Bali's famous active volcanoes. A private picnic lunch on the edge of a cliff overlooking Mount Batur added a romantic touch to our adventurous day. These moments reminded me why so many newlyweds choose Bali as their honeymoon destination.
We enjoyed dinner at Sarong Restaurant, where the scent of the food was intoxicating from the moment we walked in. This glamorous restaurant was founded on the idea of Asian street food, reinvented. I loved the northern Thai spicy tom yum soup with shredded chicken, bamboo, dill, and coriander. Chef Will Meyrick hasn't written a cookbook yet, but when he does I will be sure to buy a copy just for this recipe.
The next day, we set out on a bike tour through the exotic Balinese landscape. We got acquainted with our guide Bagi, before our four hour ride, over an organic breakfast atop of towering Mount Agung with stunning views -- a mighty volcano revered as the seat of the gods. During our ride, we explored several of the exotic temples and observed farmers wearing cone-shaped rice hats and water buffalo in the emerald fields harvesting rice. We learned about local traditions and that ninety percent of the population in Bali are Hindu, the world's third largest religion which is also practiced in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Mauritius.
Returning to the Four Seasons Sayan, shrouded in a mountain mist, I finished the day with ginger tea and honey before a restful sleep listening to the river flowing. From the moment I left the 'Island of the Gods' I have been longing to return. It is like a love that ended too soon. With a return trip, I am sure that love will be rekindled.
IF YOU GO:
WHEN TO GO: The dry season is from April to September.
Americans are eligible for a visa on arrival for a stay of up to 30 days. These cost $25 per person and your passport must be valid for at least six months after arrival.
Sarong - Drawing inspiration from the street food of Southeast Asia, Sarong is a local favorite. Ku De Ta - This buzzing bar is the place to see and be seen for pre-dinner drinks in Seminyak. Mozaic - French cuisine laced with Indonesian flavors. http://www.mozaic-bali.com/ Beds on the Beach It's all in the name.
WHERE TO SHOP Bali is a shoppers paradise -- Local art, handmade mosaic glass, and fine jewelry will all be mementos of your travels to Bali. For upscale shopping, check out the following shops in Seminyak:
Maru - Be tempted by jewels from Indonesia at this shop. Paul Ropp - Unique clothing with an ethnic touch. Quarzia - Handpainted silk separates in this shop are works of art.
Raquel Baldelomar has been a contributing writer for Luxury Travel Magazine since 2008. She provides readers with unique, insider information about destinations, hotels and travel experiences.
I love great theatrical and musical performances and the new Bali Theatre presentation Bali Agung is awesome, rivalling those amazing theme park presentations and performances the US has become so good at.
When I was privileged to be taken to Bali Theatre, I was told that the spectacular Bali Theatre performance of Bali Agung was inspired by the historic and legendary account of Sri Jaya Pangus, King of what was the unassailable Balingkang Kingdom of 12th century Bali, which romantically takes its name from marriage between a Balinese king and princess of Kang family of China. Today, many of us will have seen effigies of the King paraded through the streets of Bali as an ogre-like Barong Landung, warding off bad luck and evil spirit.
Bali Theatre recreates this epic and brings the legend to life in a rare display of Bali’s diverse cultural heritage, in an entirely new concept for Bali, with Bali Agung described as a massive collaboration of 150 performers mirroring every aspect of the Bali’s historic past retelling an epic Balinese tale with scenes of the island’s paradise, its royal atmosphere and the magical forests that are the settings for the romantic and heroic scenes, which helps any visitor really understand and appreciate Bali’s cultural heritage.
Bali Agung takes place in a massive 1,200 seat indoor theatrical complex built to international standards in stage settings, state-of-art lighting and sound systems, offering luxurious seating, located in the heart of Bali Safari Marine Park along the newly developed seaside highway, Jalan Ida Bagus Mantra, on Bali south-eastern coastline of Gianyar.
Bali Theatre is a mega-stage theatrical complex, fully equipped with advanced multi-media technology and state-of-art sound and lighting systems, the entrance featuring the island’s tallest 8-metre high Ganesha statue, the God of science and knowledge, who appears to be persuading visitors to enter the lobby and discover the many aspects of theatre. The statue even suggests to people that the theatre was built with highly sophisticated technology, and performers that will guide their audiences to a better knowledge of Bali and its charming people, unique tradition, history, and culture.
A walk through the tunnel behind the statue leads visitors to the luxurious pre-function area, decorated with warm lighting, a wooden floor and a beautifully landscaped garden filled with exotic flowers, shrubs and extensive ponds. The lobby can be considered as a perfect pre-function venue for cocktails as well as an ideal location for a private party or theme function.
The Bali Theatre brings a whole new experience to theatrical art performances, especially in Bali, by combining stunning and very colourful traditional and contemporary dance, modern puppetry and live animal parades and all highlighted with a combination of three different awesome musical and melodic influences.
The music was especially written and was performed and recorded by a western orchestra accompanied by a live Balinese pentatonic gamelan ensemble and loud Chinese cymbals and drum.
The setting is just amazing and something you have to see if you go to Bali, with the huge main stage separated from the audience by a river pond, with boat skippers voyaging on it and the mega-stage setting transporting the audience into a timeless journey and through a magical performance that shows the true colours of the island as it was several hundred years ago.
To see a sample of this amazing performance and hear what the visionaries behind this superb performance and also its Balinese and Australian directors have to say, please click on the video below: -
For more information on the amazing Bali Agung performance at the Bali Theatre, please visit:- www.balitheatre.com
John Alwyn-Jones reporting for e-Travel Blackboard and e-Travel Blackboard TV on location from Indonesia and Bali brought to you by Garuda Indonesia and Garuda Orient Holidays.
Far from the madding crowd ... Sanur, Bali. Photo: Dennis Walton/Lonely Planet
Uncrowded beaches, authentic warungs, great waves and not a tour bus in sight. Lee Atkinson investigates beyond Kuta.
BALI is busier than ever, with tourist numbers hitting record highs. However, sometimes it can seem as if the whole world has joined you to watch the sunset on Kuta beach. There are places where you can relax with very little company. Here are 10 places to take your towel.
Sanur
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In the 1960s, when Kuta was attracting its first wave of tousled-haired surfers, Sanur was the ‘‘in’’ place, where visiting royals, heads of state and superstars such as Sophia Loren holidayed. About a 30-minute drive from Denpasar airport on Bali’s east coast, Sanur is where Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall married in a traditional Hindu Balinese ceremony in 1990 and where celebrities flocked to enjoy upmarket hotels and resorts.
Fast- forward two decades and Sanur has been overshadowed by the glitzier Seminyak and party-hearty Kuta but there’s still a lot to love about this seaside resort area, even if some southern Bali expats call it ‘‘snore’’ rather than Sanur. Edged by one of the best beachside promenades in Bali, it has brilliant white sand, umbrella-shaped trees for shade, clear water, a few little waves to make it interesting, great cafes and bars and enough life to remind you that you are indeed in Bali. What Sanur doesn’t have is the aggressive sales pitches you get on Kuta, the traffic or the crowds.
Lovina
On Bali’s north coast, Lovina is not just on the opposite side of the island to Kuta and Seminyak, it’s about as far removed as you can get. Laid-back, quiet and low-key, this is what Kuta might once have been but with volcanic black sand and minus the rolling waves. Hotels are shabby and cheap and almost all front the beach.
There are no upscale restaurants, although all the seaside warungs have million-dollar water views and there’s none of the pesky hawkers you find in some of Bali’s other beach enclaves. In fact, there’s not even very many tourists and the handful that are here don’t do much. It’s a wonderful place in which to laze around while making friends with the locals and eating grilled fish that was flapping around in the bottom of a boat at the beach only minutes earlier.
When you tire of that, head into nearby hills to visit Brahma Vihara Arama, Bali’s only Buddhist monastery, a mini-Borobudur with grey stone stupas and an overriding sense of calm, although there are plenty of Hindu touches as well. Or go to the magical Air Panas Banjar, the natural hot springs surrounded by lush gardens where you can stand under the demon-head fountains and let gushing warm water work its magic on aches and pains.
Singaraja
Bali’s second-largest city is not a tourist town but is well worth a visit. It was the capital under Dutch rule and you can still see traces of its colonial past in the architecture, particularly on the old harbour, lorded over by the cantilevered Yudha Mandala Tama monument to independence. A highlight is getting lost in the crowded warren of woven baskets overflowing with fruit and vegetables at Pasar Anyar, Singaraja’s chaotic and colourful produce market.
Bookish types will like the little library next to the Museum Buleleng (give the museum a miss, though: it has some dusty archaeological exhibits and a room with some images of the local rajahs of the 1930s but not much else) for its collection of lontar books made from dried palm leaves.
Candidasa
You don’t go here for the nightlife, surf, or the beach, although Candidasa is beside the sea. Sadly, most of the sand has been washed away, thanks to the mining of the offshore reefs in the 1980s. The beach is slowly returning but you can’t really walk the length of it because hotel walls drop straight into the sea in some places. Despite this, I love Candidasa for its relaxed attitude and easygoing nature. At the beach’s northern end is a fishing village where you’ll find coconut trees and chickens and piglets rooting around the gardens.
In the middle section is a beautiful lily-covered lagoon. If you want to swim, paddle or hire a boat, head to the southern section, where you’ll also find warungs serving fresh fish. Take a day trip back in time to the nearby Aga village of Tenganan, famous for its traditional arts and crafts, particularly the finely woven baskets, hand-woven ikat cloth and lontar books.
There’s no denying the village is touristy but it’s worth visiting. It’s the perfect place to pick up a souvenir or two and at least you know your money is going directly to the person who made what you buy. Remember, it’s cash only.
Jimbaran
A seafood meal on the beach at Jimbaran at night is one of the most magical things you can do in Bali but be prepared to share the moment with several thousand other diners. Go during the day for a long, languid seaside lunch, however, and the place is pretty much deserted and the drinks are cheaper.
Start at the fish market at the beach’s northern end – it’s crowded, a little smelly and full of action. Watch where you step because there are fish scraps and puddles and try to keep out of the way of carters with baskets of just-caught fish on their shoulders. The best time to go is in the morning; by mid-afternoon, it’s all but over. By that stage, you’ll be enjoying the fruits of the fishers’ labour as you watch the surf roll in without a sea of people spoiling your view.
There are three warung strips, each with dozens of almost identical restaurants and cafes spilling across the sand and all charging much the same price for much the same food. The southern section, near the Four Seasons Resort, is the best pick of the three and the swimming is also best at that end of the beach.
Pura Taman Ayun
Despite being a stop on many tours to Tanah Lot, this former royal temple at Mengwi, built in 1634, is free of T-shirt sellers and the hawkers you find at Bali’s other big-ticket temples (Pura Besakih, ‘‘the Mother Temple’’; Tanah Lot; Ulu Watu) and seems to swallow the crowds the way other temples can’t. Perhaps it’s the beautiful gardens that surround the complex of three interconnecting yards.
Most tours stop here for half an hour but if you can avoid the pre-sunset crush about 3-4pm, you can wander almost alone on the riverside paths or relax in one of the pavilions scattered around the grounds, which are perfect for a moment or 20 of peaceful contemplation.
Ubud
Ubud moves at a gentler pace than the tourist towns of the south, although that doesn’t mean the traffic is any better and sometimes it can feel just as crowded on Monkey Forest Road as it is in Kuta’s Poppies Lane. Ubud’s saving grace is that it’s so easy to escape the crowd – you have to walk only a block or two away from the shopping streets before you’ll be surrounded by terraced rice fields.
The Botanic Garden offers even more serenity. You could spend all day sitting quietly in these gorgeous gardens with its meandering creeks, rainforest gully, silent meditation court, love nest (just follow the signs), bamboo grove and orchid garden – and that’s without getting lost in the maze. It’s about two kilometres north of Ubud; a motorbike taxi will cost about 10,000 rupiah ($1.14) each way, or catch a ride and walk back down the gentle slope through rice paddies.
Pasifika Museum
I can’t quite work out why this museum in Nusa Dua is often empty, given its extensive collection of art. Most of it is either painted by Balinese, or features paintings of Bali and the Balinese by visiting Asian and Western artists. All the big names are here, including Donald Friend, Arie Smit, Theo Meier and Le Mayeur, as well as works by luminaries such as Gauguin and Matisse.
For those who don’t fancy room after room of art, the Pacific Room has a fantastic collection of Pacific carvings, masks, canoes, jewellery and artefacts from across the Pacific and is well worth the price of admission (about $10, which is steep by Balinese standards).
Denpasar
For many tourists, Denpasar is little more than the name of the airport into which they fly before heading to their hotel in Kuta or Seminyak, hillside bungalow in Ubud, villa in Jimbaran or resort in Nusa Dua. Few visitors go into the Balinese capital unless they have business or an emergency.
If you want to get a sense of the workaday Bali, this is the place to go and, despite its (deserved) reputation as a sprawling, traffic-choked metropolis, you can see the best of the sights on a one-day walking tour. Start at the Museum Negri Propinsi Bali for a crash course on Balinese culture and art, visit the state temple, Pura Jagatnatha, next door, then head around the corner to Pasar Badung, Denpasar’s main produce market.
Just across the river is the art and craft market, Pasar Kumbasari, a great place to pick up a souvenir. It’s a wholesale as well as retail market, so this is where most of the work you see in the shops of Kuta and Legian comes from. The surrounding area is called Kampung Arab, the heart of the Arabic district, and the streets are lined with gold shops, where, if you’re bargaining skills are up to it, you can pay local not tourist prices.
Ulu Watu
A temple has been perched on the cliff-top at Ulu Watu since the 11th century. Non-Hindus can’t enter the temple courtyard but do go for the views of the line of sheer cliffs being pounded by the super-sized surf for which this part of the southern coast is famous. The best views are at the end of a short walk along the cliff edge and through the forest on the right-hand side, although the views are almost as good on the left, too.
Like Bali’s other famous sea temple, Tanah Lot, Ulu Watu is a popular sunset spot when tour buses from Kuta and Nusa Dua arrive to take in the scene and see a traditional Kecak dance, in which the singers enter a trance as they chant. Go early in the morning, though, and you’ll have the place to yourself. The delinquent monkeys may also still be half asleep and less likely to steal your sunglasses.
It will cost you the equivalent of about $10 each way by taxi (from Jimbaran; a little more from Kuta, Seminyak or Nusa Dua) and most drivers are happy to wait free while you visit the temple.
Frommer’s Bali Day by Day, by Lee Atkinson, will be published in April.
TRIP NOTES
Getting there
Garuda, Virgin Blue and Jetstar fly direct from Sydney to Denpasar. 13 31 33 www.flightcentre.com.au